Your New Podcasting Strategy: Viability-First

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If Podcast Movement Evolutions 2020 had a theme, it was this: commercial viability is podcasting’s new brass ring.

The definition of viability is simple: the ability to work successfully. It’s that last word -- success -- that’s key. And, if we’re honest with ourselves, it’s a word we're more than a little afraid of in podcasting.

But on the stages and in the hallways of Podcast Movement Evolutions 2020 held in Los Angeles last week, viability was on display. And it only took 16 years.

With viability -- commercial viability, to be specific -- as the main talking point, it’s a little nerve-wracking for a lot of the legacy podcasters. Funny thing, though: podcasting must be viable, else it wouldn’t have survived this long. If the podcast you are doing right now has been going for the last 8 or 12 years, then by definition it’s viable or you wouldn't keep doing it.

But commercial viability is different.

Commercial viability means that the podcast has to pay for itself. It’s a business term because, for many, podcasting is a real and commercially viable business.

Is your podcast commercially viable?

Dan Misener from Pacific Content really drove the point home for me when he shared a stage with Red Hat to talk about the show Command Line Heroes. He began his presentation with a question many (most?) podcasters have: How do I grow an audience for my podcast?

Seeing it written out like that, it’s easy to see the subject/object confusion. The correct way to phrase that question, Dan points out, is: How do I grow a podcast for my audience?

That change in thinking is at the core of what commercial viability in podcasting means. It starts with having an understanding of an audience and then building something that that audience wants.

But what if you don't have an audience? What if you just have an idea for what you think might be a really great show?

From that starting point, there are two paths you can go down. The one that most legacy podcasters would suggest for you is to take your idea for a podcast, grab the closest microphone, sign up with a podcast hosting company, and start your show. And while I can’t fault them for that advice (advice I’ve given many times over the years), it’s leaving a lot to chance. No, it’s leaving everything to chance.

Path number two puts viability first and suggests that you take your idea to the audience before you start the podcast. Once you’ve identified the audience, shop your idea around with that audience. Ask them questions. Do interviews to make sure your idea can be crafted into a podcast that the audience truly wants and is something worthy of adding to their busy lives.

And if so, go build that podcast!

But what if you’ve already got a podcast and it's not yet commercially viable? How do you make your current podcast commercially viable?

I suggest to you that you’re asking the wrong question. That’s the same as asking how to build an audience for your podcast. Maybe, for you, the first question you should answer is this: Do you want a commercially viable podcast?

Not all podcasts have to be commercially viable. Your podcast can be made viable by you because it gives you what you need, so you're happy to keep funding it. Perhaps it’s viable to a small number of people happily donate enough money to cover your hosting bills and give you enough dopamine to continue spending time on it. Maybe you get enough invitations to speak on stage or enough interest from potential clients that it’s viable in other ways. So no, you don't have to have a commercially viable podcast.

But you must have a viable podcast. Or you won’t be podcasting for long.

I’ve more thoughts spurred from talks given and conversations had at Podcast Movement Evolutions 2020, so watch this space over the next few days.

In the meantime, go to RateThisPodcast.com/podpont and leave a rating for the show. And one way to make sure that I bring you more ideas to help with your shows’ commercial viability is to visit BuyMeACoffee.com/EvoTerra. Finally, if you have questions about your business podcast and its own commercial viability, get in touch. I'm sure I can help. Reach me at evo@podcastlaunch.pro or go to SimplerMedia.pro to see a list of how we help businesses all around the world.

More thoughts coming tomorrow on yet another Podcast Pontifications.

Cheers!

Published On:

February 17, 2020

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At the core, every ongoing podcast shares one theme, the ability to continue on successfully. The tricky part is understanding where that success comes from and how to exploit it to bring in more.

Hello and welcome to another podcast. Pontifications with me, Evo. Tara. If podcast movement evolutions, 2020 had a theme. It's this commercial viability is the new brass ring. Commercial viability, viability in and of itself is something, all podcasters, all podcasts, everyone involved in the process of podcasting should understand.

And work toward unconsciously, you already are. Something that is viable, can continue on, continues to work, continues work successfully. That's the definition of viability, continuing to work successfully at whatever it is. We're afraid of that word success in podcasting, but onstage on the stages in the hallways.

Of podcast movement evolutions. 2020 held in Los Angeles, California. Last week. Viability was the talk. The viability wasn't just the talk. Viability was on display. Viability was shown. Here we are 16 years almost into podcasting. And viability is becoming the main talking point, and that's a little nerve wracking for a lot of the legacy podcasters, those who've been doing it for almost 16 years.

Hi.

Even though. We've all had levels of sustainability. It's never really been thrust. I don't think in the face of podcasters the way it was over the weekend, and not just viability overall, because look, podcasting must be viable. The thing you are doing right now that you've been doing for the last eight years, 12 years, it has to be viable or you wouldn't keep doing it.

There's some amount of viability to it. But last week that sensor was around commercial viability and that's again, like I said, a little scary to a lot of podcasters who haven't had to think too much about commercial viability. Commercial viability means that it pays for itself commercially. The thing you are doing, whatever it is, podcasting, business, you name it.

Well, and then it's really a business and it's commercially viable. Is your podcast commercially viable? I don't know. Not really the big, the big question, I think for me it was illustrated a few different times over the weekend, but one was when Dan Meisner from Pacific content was on stage doing a presentation about.

A show that Pacific content helped red hat develop, an ongoing probably produced called command line heroes. You can listen to it if you want to. It looks like it sounds like a really great show, but he began his presentation with, you know, a lot of people have this question in mind. How do I grow an audience for my podcast?

Standard question, how do I grow an audience for my podcast? Dan at Pacific content suggest we flip that on its head and say, how do I grow a podcast for my audience? How do I grow a podcast for my audience? And I think that at the core is what commercial viability means. It starts with having an understanding of an audience.

And building something that that audience wants. It starts with actually having an audience is one of the big G factors. Why businesses like red hat, like a lot of the ones that we're talking on stage today we're successful at doing is because they already have an audience. What if you don't have an audience.

Well, that's the big question. What if you just have an idea? Therein lies the challenge because if you have an idea for a show, you've got two paths. I see that you can go down. One is the common one. The one that most people would tell you to do is that, take your idea for a podcast and just start, grab a microphone, get a hosting company, start your show.

That's it. It's all takes. You've got your idea. Now you've got a podcast, but you'll notice you didn't start with an audience. So path number two, if you've got an idea, is take that idea to the audience, not the podcast. Take the idea to the audience. Shop it around. Ask questions. Do interviews really deeply get inside of the psyche of people to find out, is this something that they want?

Is your idea viable to those people? Would it be something that they would add to their lives? And if so, go build that podcast. But what about those of you listening to me right now who say they've already got a podcast and it's not yet commercially viable? what do you do? How do you make your podcast commercially viable?

I suggest to you that that's the wrong question. I suggest to you that your, again, thinking of that same thing of how do I build an audience for my podcast, you know, maybe it's not commercially viable and it doesn't have to be commercially viable. It just has to be viable. Maybe that's your first question.

Do you want a commercially viable podcast? Again, it doesn't have to be. It can be viable because it gives you what you need and you're happy to fund it. It could be viable to a small number of people who are happy to give you enough money so you can keep paying your hosting bills and feel it's right for you to spend the time on it.

Who knows, right? It's, it's viable because you get enough time speaking on conferences and people, people who listen to us, I'd like to invite you to come speak. Great. Okay? But if that's not the case and you're wondering, why am I doing this every single day? It may be that you don't have a commercially viable podcast.

And that there may not be an easy way for you to transfer him, your podcast into being commercially viable. And if that's the case, what can you make that might be commercially viable? Step back, reconsider. Do something that is commercially viable. How do I do that? You might say, how do I know what's commercially viable?

What to set in a minute ago? You take your idea and you shop it around to the audience that you think might want it. You don't just drop it out there and hope, although that might work for you, dropping it out and seeing what happens. Sometimes it works, that's fine, but a better way to do it is go do some research.

Ask people what they want. Viability, commercial viability. Was on display at podcast movement evolution's 2020 I think it's going to continue. I've got more things to say on that. This idea is the, the ideas that I picked up from podcast movement evolution is 2020 as well as this concept of being viable.

I'm talking about it all week long. So in the meantime, go to rate this podcast.com/pod Pont. Leave me a rating. Do you want to make sure that I bring you those ideas to help my commercial viability. Go to buy me a coffee.com/evo Terra and if you have questions about your business podcast and its own commercial viability, get in touch.

I'm sure I can help evo@podcastlaunchedupproorgotosimplermedia.pro to see a list of how we help businesses all around the world. More thoughts coming tomorrow on yet another podcast. Pontifications cheers.

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